Supreme Court agrees for expeditious hearing on AIFF's constitution, India set to avoid FIFA ban

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to finalise the draft constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which has been framed by the Committee of Administrators (CoA).

A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud noted that CoA had submitted the draft on July 15 and 250 comments have been received by CoA. A counsel representing some state associations contended before the bench that the administrator cannot go beyond the National Sports Code, and added, "Administrator has gone beyond the National Sports Code".

The bench, also comprising justices Surya Kant and A S Bopanna, asked the parties involved in the matter to identify key issues to be addressed by the court.

A joint secretary of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports also urged the apex court to consider the objections to the new draft constitution expeditiously, in view of FIFA's deadline and the importance of hosting U-17 Women's World Cup in India, as well as India's participation in the Asian Cup. After hearing arguments, the top court scheduled the matter for further hearing on July 28.

The Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which manages the Indian Super League (ISL), and State Associations had filed an intervention case in the Supreme Court, requesting to amend some clauses in the Draft Constitution submitted by the CoA.

A delegation of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has already set the Committee of Administrators (CoA) a deadline of July 31 to amend the statutes of the Constitution and conclude the elections by September 15, 2022.